I am sharing my reflection on this Sunday’s readings from my home in Rome. I purposely wanted to be here, at home, as a reminder to you and to me that the Word of God we hear at Mass on Sundays, echoed in churches throughout the world, are meant to impact our everyday life between Sundays —at home and at work.

You may hear the background noise of traffic in Rome. Let this not be a distraction, but a reminder that the Word of God is active and alive everywhere, including in the streets of our cities, the messiness of our daily life, and the complexity of our work situation. We need only to open the “earof our heart” to receive this Word and let it transform our lives.

The golden threads woven through this Sunday’s readings present challenging questions for us all: Where are my priorities? What is really important? What is Jesus asking of me today? How is Jesus calling me to follow him?

If you are like me, you probably feel challenged by the dialogue between Jesus and the man in theGospel who “ran up” and “knelt down” before him and asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” After Jesus reminds him of the commandments and the man says he has been observing thecommandments since his youth, the Gospel becomes super challenging: “Jesus, looked at him, loved him and said, ‘You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven; then come, follow me.’”

We are told that, “at that statement, the man’s face fell and he went away sad, for he had many treasures."

When I imagine Jesus looking at me, loving me, and saying I am lacking in one thing, I do not wantgo away sad. I am sure you don’t want to go away sad either. You and I want to have the courage to respond fully and unconditionally to his call.

Today, Jesus is looking at you and at me with eyes of love, and he is inviting us to follow him. He is explicit: An integral part of participating in the Kingdom of God is to share our treasures with the poor. Certainly one thing we need to ask ourselves is this: Am I sharing generously with those in need?

Each of us is called to be generous with the gifts God has given us. The big question is: How are wecalled to do that? The answer is different for each of us. We have to discern, day by day, year by year, what this means for us. Many of us have family responsibilities, children, elderly parents to care for, a mortgage to pay. We know we are called to be detached from our belongings, we know Jesus is to be the center of our lives, but sometimes in the nitty gritty of everyday life it is hard to figure out exactly how to do this.

This is where the first and second readings can help us.

The first reading from the Book of Wisdom gives us something concrete to do: “pray” because, if wedo, “prudence will be given to us.” We are called to “plead” and the “spirit of wisdom” will come to us. This Wisdom is an unfathomable treasure; “riches are nothing to be compared to her.” When we“cling to Wisdom,” when we cherish Wisdom, our hearts are put right and we will have our prioritiesright.

William Temple once wrote, “When you pray, coincidences happen.” As you and I assiduously prayfor Wisdom this week in the big and little details of daily life, let us keep these five words in mind, - "When you pray, coincidences happen."- and we will see how we are called to follow Jesus.

The second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that the Word of God is powerful. It is “living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul andspirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.”

Prayerfully reading Scripture daily is a way to grow in Wisdom. As the Word seeps into our hearts each day, we are gradually transformed and we begin, little by little, to take on Gospel ways of being and acting. It is a lifetime process, but it happens. It is real.

So, this week, as we ponder Jesus looking at us, loving us, and calling us to follow him, I encourageyou to pray for Wisdom. Plead for this precious gift which will put your heart right. Make an effort to read the Word of God each day and let that Word do its work in you each day.

This is really important because we have practical decisions to make. Jesus is calling us to follow him now — today — and we do not want to go away sad.